News & Diary  Archive 2004  Part Two

  

Further travels can be found in Archives

 

July 4	Although the weather has not been as bad as expected - rather windy but not too much rain - we have stayed at Hartshill longer than expected and have no intention of moving from here until Wednesday.  The reason is not just that this is a lovely mooring and we've mentally "blobbed out" but we've had one lot of visitors yesterday and are expecting more on Tuesday. On our first full morning here we chatted briefly on the towpath with Carl and Liz of Blackstone, who helped us down the Heartbreak Hill locks (2002), then spent an hour or two drinking tea and chatting with Judd and Maurean of Piggiwig who were passing on their way to the Ashby.  They were the smashing couple who helped us two years ago on our first trip through Leeds up to Skipton (see Well Met on the Cut ).  Then yesterday our friend Linda Pelc from Ashford in the Water stopped off on her way to Southampton with her son Hugh and we caught up on news from "home" or rather "ex-home".    After they had left, Liz and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary with the splendid pork steak and sliced apple dish that Mike Hecken introduced us to on the K & A, finishing it off with a 17 year old port that had somehow survived the ravages of two years plus on the boat.  The previous evening we had an excellent meal up at the Malt Shovel, a 15 minute walk from the mooring but worth the effort for the delicious Banks beer (less than £2 a pint) and the inexpensive food.
July 8	Another visit from our friends Mary and Ken deVille from Derbyshire on Tuesday (and another excellent meal at the Malt Shovel with them in the evening) persuaded us to stay even longer at Hartshill than planned - our longest stay anywhere for many months - but yesterday we made up for it by getting away at 6.15 am and coming down through the Atherstone locks in good time to our present mooring at Bradley Green by 10 a.m.  One of boating friends who came up a few days before had told us it had taken them five hours because of the queues building up at each lock but we've been lucky so far in travelling against the flow.  We've also been lucky in missing the worst of the weather.  We've seen some light rain, drizzle and, this morning, lowering grey clouds, but have suffered none of the torrential rain that has hit north and south of us.  Walking the dogs early on today, however, it was obvious the wind was still strong so we've decided to stay here for a second night - reasonably sheltered by trees and high hedges on one side with a good view across open country on the other.
July 11	One of the reasons I haven't updated this site very often is that Liz and I feel a bit like frauds at the moment.  We call ourselves continuous cruisers but have done little of it recently, certainly less than we do in the winter.  On Friday morning we set off at a reasonable time, travelled a couple of hundred yards to the facilities at Bradley Green, took on water and jettisoned various types of rubbish, then moved on towards our twin targets of Polesworth (for shopping) and Fazeley (for diesel).  We got as far as one of our favourite quiet moorings at Bridge 50, wondered aloud where we'd be best off for the weekend and decided to cruise no further.  We had been on the move for less than an hour - including the time it took to fill the water tank - but we cheerfully dropped metaphorical anchor for a few days.  We are still here on Sunday evening but if it's dry tomorrow we will definitely move on towards Hopwas and a pint of Bombardier.  If it's wet we'll stay here another day with fields of vegetables to one side and a large herd of cows on the other.   This morning we had a call from Sue and Mike on Shania who have now left the Lancaster canal and are making their way north after locking up the Wigan flight.

July 13	A pleasant weekend at Bridge 50 despite indifferent weather that delayed for an hour our leaving on Monday morning - but that was just as well because just before 7.30 am George and Kate on Lady Kate pulled alongside for a five-minute chat before they continued on towards Atherstone locks. They both looked fit and well and still enjoying life but deeper conversation was impossible because the canal was so narrow they couldn't breast up for very long.  We were soon under way as well, arriving at Hopwas in time for that Bombardier I had promised myself at the Red Lion but we had unexpected company in the pub because Dave and Kath Salt on Water Dragon (ex-Magic Dragon) were already tied up at the main visitor moorings and this was the first time we had seen each other since we had left Barton Turns marina in March 2003.  There was plenty of catching up to do comparing notes on our travels and sharing news about shared acquaintances.  This was just the start of a day full of surprise meetings, however.  Late afternoon I put the dogs on their leads to walk them down the towpath and as I passed Water Dragon I saw a Challenger boat with a cat on board.  The cat raced off as we approached and I held the dogs back but the two people on board, Carole and Brent Walker from Leamington Spa, said the cat would soon return and besides they were waiting to talk to me and Liz.  They had been following the website since day one and had been hoping to see us during their first trip on Black Watch, a recently launched share boat.  Liz and I sat in their cockpit for almost an hour, chatting and drinking wine or beer and then I went back to Snecklifter to get my camera (see Latest pictures). I was just heading back when a young woman waved through the window brandishing a bottle of Badger's Golden Glory ale.  It was Sarah Levick and her husband Andy Jury, who live in Essex but keep their boat Arcadia at Streethay Wharf.  They've been regular email correspondents for some time and Sarah had been following our progress from the Ashby until we were close enough for them to drive over and see us. She must have showed tremendous patience as we stayed a week here, three days there and a long weekend close to nowhere.  Eventually we left the others on their own boats and settled down in Snecklifter for cups of tea (I had already had a couple of pints at lunchtime so I stuck to the soft stuff and with Sarah agreeing to drive back, Andy was able to enjoy a bottle of the ale for which our boat was named).    P.S.  Sarah and Andy drove over to Huddlesford in the evening to join us in the Plough for an excellent meal, accompanied by Pedigree and Old Speckled Hen drawn straight from the barrel.  Their lovely greyhound Susie was rewarded for waiting in their car by having an hour or more racing up and down the towpath with our dogs Bess and Molly while we sat at Snecklifter's stern drinking coffee. Another enjoyable evening with two new friends (three with Susie) we're sure we'll meet up with again over the next few cruising seasons.
July 16	We have travelled only a short distance to Fradley and here we intend staying until the weekend is over, partly because we have a quiet, sheltered mooring and partly because we expect visitors some time in the next couple of days.  In that short distance we passed Carole and Brent on Black Watch heading back down the canal and, at Fradley itself, more old friends - Martin and Jenny Howes on Ashted passed us on their way back to their permanent mooring at Wolverhampton Boat Club.  They couldn't stop because it was pouring with rain and they were travelling with another boat but we expect to see them in a month or so when we head up the Shroppie.  To be absolutely accurate this is our second mooring spot at Fradley. We spent last night a little further away from the junction, close to a large fallen tree.  This morning a BW work team appeared to cut up the tree and feed its severed limbs into a wood shredder so we quickly upped stakes and moved into a gap that was far enough away to shut out the noise.  By this afternoon they had finished and all is quiet again.  Another new email correspondent contacted us recently - our first reader in Tasmania.  Alan Hunt and his wife Keri live in Mt. Direction, north of Launceston in Northern Tasmania.  Alan wrote " I have followed your site for many months now and am very envious of your travels.  It is usually the first site I go to when passing some time on night shift.  In 1990 my wife Keri and my two children, Louise and Paul and I spent three months staying with relatives around southern England and Yorkshire and travelling around England and Eire in a tiny campervan.  A highlight was our first week in early October on the Oxford Canal having hired a narrowboat from a firm in Oxford.   "Louise is now a flight instructor with long term goals of flying for a big airline and Paul is taking some time out to work on a big flat farm near Adelaide but I think he will try to get into a police degree course closer to home in the new year.  Keri is working as a trainee accountant and I am a lab. technician in a smelter. Importantly I have a lot of unused leave and our thoughts are to take a long holiday in maybe August, September and  half of October in 2005.  Keri likes walking so no doubt that will be part of the plans and we both like the idea of some time on the canals.  Personally I would like to spend all the holiday on canals but I can't have it all my own way. "  We all know what he means !
July 18	We have been very impressed with Fradley Junction.  British Waterways have improved the facilities close to their yard, introduced a strip of new moorings opposite and just beyond the narrow access road have developed a lovely nature reserve and walk where we've strolled a couple of times with the dogs on leads.  And today it has been hugely entertaining.  From late morning, through most of the afternoon, there has been a steady stream of boats in all directions, several of them meeting in the Junction itself and somehow sorting themselves out under the incredulous gaze of people waiting for the pub to open or later hurrying back outside to sit staring with pints of beer in front of them.  Who needs Morris dancers (we were lucky to have just missed some of them yesterday!) when skills are put to the test in that slow waltz peculiar to boaters trying to avoid each other.  Certainly there were no collisions while we watched, no lost tempers, no obvious frustration, just the acceptance of one boater from King's Bromiley who grinned at us and shouted "The usual Sunday afternoon performance at Fradley, but still we keep doing it."  Heavy rain later on has driven most spectators indoors or under cover but still the boats have kept coming, at one stage tailing back several hundred yards down the Coventry and passing us so slowly we've been able to poke our heads out of the hatch and sympathise with them without actually getting wet.

July 19	After the near-Bedlam of yesterday, it has been a complete contrast today.  We moved away from our Fradley mooring by 6.10 am when it was wonderfully peaceful and the light crystal-clear with just a low mist over the fields.  We watered just before the junction, and then turned right on to the Trent & Mersey and down through four locks.  It was still only 8 am so we tied up for an hour and a half for breakfast and then finished the rest of the journey into Alrewas - which passers-by last night had told us was nose to tail with narrowboats - and stopped in the first space, close to the bowls club.  After a short foray to the shops and a pint at the Crown we walked back across bridge 46 and saw there was now room to moor out in the open on the towpath between the bridge and Alrewas lock.  So here we've been since about 1pm and I've used a quiet afternoon to sand down paintwork.  It'll get painted eventually.  Another new email correspondent has brightened our day (no pun intended).  Sam Moon wrote to us from Gainsville, Florida, saying how much he enjoyed following the website.  " I grew up on the water and can think of fewer things nicer than cruising around for four or so years (my wife would disagree,however).  You are to be commended for following your dream!  One thing my wife and I do agree on is that we want to move to England, and as far as I am concerned, getting a narrowboat will be a necessity!  We want to live in London, and will definitely need the escape."  Again, those of us who are lucky to spend most or just some of our time on the Cut, will understand how he feels.
July 22	From Alrewas it was a quiet run to Barton Turns Marina where we took on diesel and gas and then booked in for a night.  Luckily we were slotted in close to Elsie and son Lee on All Boys so we were able to catch up on all the news (well most of it) since we left 16 months earlier.  We also joined Ralph Freeman of Grey Nomad at the Barton Turns pub where Angie drew me a pint or two of Pedigree straight from the barrel and then reminded us of how well she cooked sausage, egg and chips.  In the afternoon I bumped into Keith and Stephie Collins who were transferring belongings from their home (which they have now sold) and on to their boat Definitive which they are going to live on after having to "survive" in the past on just holiday cruising.  Good for them.  Yesterday we came down to Branston water park and visited the lovely Bridge Inn only to learn that it has changed hands and there's talk of it becoming an Italian restaurant.  Liz and I - along with many other boaters, I imagine - will be hoping this is just rumour and the new owners will keep it going as a canal pub.   This afternoon we cruised to Jannel's Shobnall marina, gathering in a bottle of Adnam's Suffolk Strong beer from Ralph Freeman's outstretched hand as we passed his boat - we'd enjoyed another lunchtime pint with him at the Bridge and he wanted me to try this new ale - and also passing Simon and Carol Jenkins onWaimarie, who we first saw over two years ago at Gargrave. In the minute or less it took us to pass Simon said he still dips in to the website. Tomorrow Snecklifter goes into dry dock to have her bottom blacked - the first time since the boat was built - and we are going to stay with old friends in Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire, until early next week.  The website should be resumed by Tuesday or Wednesday.
July 28	Back at Branston after our five-day trip to Derbyshire and well pleased with the bottom blacking and other little jobs done at Jannel's (not so pleased with some of the extra charges - but that's another story). We stayed overnight at Shobnall and this morning cruised (via a trip to Morrisons) to Branston where we were delighted to discover that the Bridge is NOT becoming a Bistro.  The new landlady told me her husband is a chef and intends doing pizzas and pasta but it will be served in a relaxed pub atmosphere.  The Pedigree pulled with the sparkler off is still excellent, though they will not be drawing it from the barrel any more. We head for Barton Turns marina tomorrow morning and I will stay there until early next week boat - and dog-sitting while Liz heads for Sidmouth Folk festival with three friends.

August 3	This is our fifth day at Barton Turns where I have been making the most of Liz's trip to Sidmouth for the folk festival (combined with plug-in electricity at the marina) to catch up on a variety of jobs, including sorting out minor problems with the computer.  Liz returned yesterday (as planned) but we have not sailed off this morning (as planned) into the unsheltered world of the Cut.  The weather forecast for this area was dire and Liz wanted to get another large batch of washing into the laundrette.  So we have paid for an extra night.  This extended "pit-stop" - a perfect description for which I thank Ralph Freeman of Grey Nomad - has also been a time of renewing old friendships and acquaintances. Tea with Elsie on All Boys, hours in front of the computer with her son Lee who once again has been a tower of strength on both the pc hardware and software fronts, lunchtime beers with Ralph and brief chats with Jenny and Tony of Jenny Rose (they didn't get back to the marina until Sunday after their appearance at Steve Hudson's open days at Glascote Basin) and with Angie and some of the regulars at the Barton Turns pub, have ensured the days have passed rapidly.  Cooking for myself, feeding and walking the dogs four times a day and other boat chores usually done or shared by Liz have helped fill the few idle hours. And I also fitted in a short but rewarding trip to Barton under Needwood in Ralph's car to pick up enough bottles of Adnam's Strong Suffolk at 79p a bottle to last me for three or four weeks.  Regular readers will now understand fully the "pit-stop" reference.  We should be on our way towards the Staffs and Worcs by tomorrow, however, when I will try to catch up on some delayed email replies.  But I must mention one from Pat Bycroft who sent us a piece from Granny Buttons, Andrew Denny's wide-ranging logbook that links to a remarkable number of canal-related sites.  In his comments on this site he described our "late-life determination to see more of the Kingdom before old age suddenly appeared unbidden.  "Many people have now done that, of course, and few if any have regretted it. What's most remarkable about www.snecklifter.com is that it is still being faithfully updated every few days, with photos and cruising log, and is as near-complete a narrowboat log as you'll find on the web. Superb!"   Obviously we're delighted with that sort of comment but pride aside it justifies my decision to keep going on several occasions - crashes on my pc, a major crash on the hosting site when I had to upload every pic and every word from scratch - when it would have been easier to pack the whole thing in.  Thank you, Andy, and thank you, Pat, for sending the html.
August 6	We left Barton Turns marina on Wednesday morning, cruised uneventfully to Alrewas where we moored for the night and then set off at 6.10 am to get through Fradley locks before it started getting busy.  The first boat we met was not until Junction lock and then it was a quiet run to an isolated mooring just above bridge 56, a mile south of Handsacre.  We had no plans to go further - which was just as well because it began raining in the afternoon and by early evening it was torrential, with enough thunder and lightning about to persuade us that unplugging tv etc was the better part of valour.   This morning we (or rather I) made another very early start despite a mist that reduced visibility to about 100 yards.  It meant crawling for many miles but below Rugeley the sun appeared at roughly the same time as Liz (no locks so she stayed in bed for another hour or more) and we reached another favourite mooring near bridge 69 with marvellous views out towards Cannock Chase that are not much reduced by the small clump of trees which are keeping the heat of the sun off the boat.
August 9	Although it was unbearably hot inside the boat at times, we were able to sit outside in the shade of the trees for most of our three days at bridge 69 but then the weather broke and it started raining last evening.  We took advantage of a dry spell to leave about 7.30 this morning and came up through two locks to another shady spot at Great Haywood, close to Swivel Bridge where we stayed for more than a week last year during another August heatwave.  Two of our days near Cannock Chase were taken up with boat-painting, more particularly below the gunnel where the wear and tear of nearly a year had been shown up by our recent bottom blacking.  We also made some new friends we hope to meet again some day -Alec and Joan on Carrum who keep their boat at Barton Turns marina (on a pier we have not spent any time on), and Rob and Jeanne Boulton who originally hail from Lincolnshire despite the Cornish name of their boat Tywardreath.  They left early yesterday en route to Penkridge so they could be near a vet if their labrador Duke doesn't recover from a sudden illness that had made him weak on his legs.

August 11	After torrential rain pinned us down at Swivel Bridge the weather brightened yesterday afternoon and we moved up to Tixall Wide where it was warm enough to sit outside for a few hours.  By the time we left Tixall early this morning the water meadow below the towpath was almost under flood water.  We came a few miles slowly to below Deptmore lock where once again our decision to stop early was justified by heavy bursts of rain.  The delays had already persuaded us to slow down and abandon our plan of reaching the Shroppie by Friday to stay with Martin and Jenny Howes of Ashted and this was just as well because we had a phone call today from our friend Linda Pelc of Ashford in the Water arranging to spend the day with us on Saturday.  This would not have been easy at Wolverhampton Boat Club where Martin tells us a lot of piling is going on to improve their southern moorings. We hope to call on them on our return down the Shroppie mid-September.  If it's reasonably dry in the morning we will cruise on to Penkridge, get some shopping done and then move out into the countryside near Gailey for the night - we've heard from several sources that mooring in Penkridge itself is not a good idea at the moment!  Then, hopefully, we'll reach Cross Green for the weekend.
August 13	One of the greatest attractions of living this life is the ability to change your mind - or "go with the flow" as older and more experienced boaters put it.  We reached Penkridge mid-morning yesterday, found an excellent spot to moor (Tywardreath was just leaving it!) and decided to stay a couple of days, making it easier for friends to meet us at the weekend.  We were helped in changing our minds by the friendliness of the chap at the bottom of whose garden we were stopping - John Shaw who lives in Marsh Lane.  So often we've met people whose houses abut on to a canal who have no interest in and sometimes harbour resentment to boaters that John has been a refreshing delight.  This afternoon he came out again to talk with us, brought us some home-grown tomatoes to repay Liz for a few mushrooms she had given him to go with his steak tonight, and then brought his wife Josie out to meet us.  They've lived in the same house for nearly 40 years - Josie was a lollipop lady for 27 of them - and not surprisingly they have been a fund of local information.  So we'll see how the weather develops and will set off for Cross Green and the Shroppie on Sunday, or Monday, or whenever.   In the meantime I have posted a new photograph on Latest pictures - the last one taken of Mike Hecken, Liz and me before we ended our trip together at Braunston.  I know it's a bit late but it was originally uploaded to the website as a test and I've decided to leave it there !
August 15	Our stay at Penkridge continued to be a pleasure right through until this morning when we pulled up stakes before 7 am and came up a few miles and a few more locks to another favourite mooring less than a mile before Gailey, between Boggs lock and Brick Kiln lock. Already here were Rob and Jeanne on Tywardreath so we have friendly company at least until tomorrow. (Their dog Duke is still weak but the vet in Penkridge says his illness is treatable.)  In fact, we have sat out together most of the afternoon chatting.  Yesterday some old friends from Ashford - Clive and Joy Thrower and Linda Pelc - and from Matlock - John Thorpe - arrived mid-morning bearing steaks and sausages for a barbecue to be followed by a marvellous apple flan and a special coffee cake, both cooked by Linda.  We finished off with cheeses supplied by Clive and Joy and we still had the best part of Joy's raspberry and apple tart left over to enjoy today. We spent the next eight hour or more eating, drinking red wine (women) and Adnam's strong ale (men), and talking about our old home village (women), computers, cameras and dvds (men).  The day before, we spent some time chatting with David and Sheila Baldwin whose boat Dash was moored behind us at Penkridge.  Many things in common including a love of classical music - they are regulars at the City of Birmingham Symphony's concerts - but they have been boaters far longer than us and were able to persuade us that visiting the centre of Birmingham next Spring would be a worthwhile trip as we travel north from Stratford and Gloucester.  David went to the trouble of drawing a map of the canal as it passes through and jotting down a number of good moorings in and around the city.  I told him the least I could in return was to mention Longwood Boat Club on the BCN of which they are members - "It's rather small so many people have never heard of it."    P.S.  We have just passed the 3000 engine hours mark.

August 17	We have slowed down (yet again) because Liz doesn't want to be at Brewood until the weekend when she is planning to travel to London for our daughter-in-law Sharon's 40th birthday party. But we still moved on yesterday morning - I'm not sure why - and stopped between bridges 75 and 74 near Cross Green, a mooring so quiet that we stayed here again today.  Only a shortage of bread will force us onwards tomorrow when we should make the Shroppie by mid-morning.  In the meantime we've been enjoying a long email from regular correspondent Sarah Levick - I described it as a "magnum opus" without realising the irony until she told us the make of pump-out lavatory that had been giving them problems during a recent holiday on their boat Arcadia.  Anyway, I thought her email funny enough to want to share it with others and it can be seen on News from Arcadia if you want to read a typically untypical story of two weeks aboard a narrowboat at the height of the season.
August 20	A shortage of bread forced us to move on (see above)!   We cruised early through Cross Green on Wednesday and reached Autherley Junction just before 9 am, in good time to change an empty gas bottle for a full one and to top up the diesel ready for our stay at Brewood which will now probably last until next Tuesday.  Coming past Wolverhampton Boat Club we could see what Martin Howes of Ashted had warned us was a major upheaval, with all the lower section of long-term moorings being piled. It looked dramatic but also impressive. The improvement in the club's moorings should certainly be worth all the temporary inconvenience and we can only hope it will be finished by the time we return down the Shroppie in about five or six weeks time so that we can stay with Martin and Jenny again, if only for a day.  As always, we made our initial landfall at Brewood under the avenue of trees below bridge 14 so we could walk into the village for bread and other supplies, as well as resampling the Burtonwood bitter at the Bridge - as good as last year and the year before that. Then, as soon as we returned aboard, we set off the half-mile or so to our preferred open mooring near bridge 15. We'd not been there long when we had a call from Susan and Dave Lane of Plodder who said they would drive over to see us the following day.  They duly arrived in the middle of yesterday afternoon, parked in the village instead of near bridge 15, and were more than ready for a cup of tea after their towpath trudge to find us.  They also brought some wonderful fruit flans and fresh cream from their local Waitrose (only the best quality for us!) and we chatted for several hours before trekking back down the towpath to the Bridge for an enjoyable meal. They now moor near Sandbach so we hope to see them there before we head back on to the Middlewich arm for our journey southwards to winter quarters.
August 26	Our stay at Brewood stretched out to nearly a week after Liz found a useful combination of bus and trains that would get her to London for Sharon's birthday - but in the end they were not needed.  Sue Lane rang on Saturday morning offering her a lift to London stopping overnight at their rented cottage in Essex so Liz grabbed at the chance of a couple of extra days, left that afternoon, duly stayed overnight with the Lanes and then finished the journey to London on Sunday.  She spent the rest of Sunday and most of Monday with our son Jonathan, including the party at Covent Garden and next day returned to the boat to find me and the dogs still surviving - even though I had to walk them four times a day and cook for myself!   We had planned to set off early on Tuesday but instead stayed another day at Brewood so Liz could do some more shopping, leaving very early this morning to take on water and cheap diesel at Wheaton Aston (though even here the price had risen to 28.5p a litre instead of the usual 23p).  En route through Gnosall we hoped to see Mick and Barbara Hill on Vavara - they had phoned several days earlier to say they were close - but unfortunately the two boats passed on the "mighty" Shelmore embankment where it was impossible to stop and catch up on all their news.  By 11 am we were happily moored at Norbury, overlooking some lovely countryside, and were soon sampling two new ales brewed specially for the local pub - Junction Inn best bitter at 4.4 and Boaters' bitter at 3.8 - and they also have Banks bitter and mild on tap so we might stay a day or two.

August 27	Despite the listed attractions of the Junction Inn we reflected last night on the disadvantages of Norbury at a Bank Holiday weekend and decided to set off reasonably early this morning, passing the Anchor Inn an hour later - will stop on the way back.  We reached Bridge 50, south of Market Drayton, before 11 am, stopping in a marvellous spot that we had marked down last year for future reference - there was a boat here on our way up in August 2003 and another on our way back a few weeks later.  From our side hatch we look out over a low towpath, across fields full of corn and cows, to a wonderful view of the Wrekin and various other "blue remembered hills" along the horizon.  A picture taken in less than ideal light has been posted on Latest pictures and will be updated when I get a better one.  I have four or five days to do this, because we have no intention of moving until the Bank Holiday is over!
September 4	No, we have not been here since my last update, although we did stay for the full five days over the Bank holiday.  On Wednesday we cruised up to Market Drayton through Tyrley locks, arriving in good time for the market and to replace our sorely-depleted food stocks at Morrisons/Safeway - we were completely out of bread and milk and even our tins of baked beans and tomatoes (staples for casseroles etc) had almost disappeared.  We needed a taxi to get us and our carrier bags to the boat.    So why are we back here for the weekend at Bridge 50 rather than moving rapidly up the Shroppie as planned?  We just changed our minds.  After our early start to the season in March, our journey to the Thames, Bath and Bristol and then back up through the Midlands we suddenly felt "cruised out".  The thought of all those locks just to do a short "new" section on the Middlewich arm no longer seemed appealing.  So we winded this side of Adderley locks, came back a mile or so to a quiet country mooring for Wednesday night and then set off early on Thursday back the way we had already travelled - Middlewich arm will wait until next season when we will be cruising up the Trent and Mersey to the Bridgewater.  Our newest plan (if you can dignify our intention with that word) is to travel very slowly - yes, even more slowly than normally - back down the Shroppie, the Staffs and Worcs etc to reach the Ashby by late October.  And if you think we can't take seven weeks over a 35-hour trip then you have not been reading this diary carefully enough over the last two years!  Changing your mind is, of course, one of the biggest advantages of living aboard.  We arrived here on Thursday evening and thought we might go on to the Anchor Inn at High Offley today (Saturday) but at the last minute decided to stay here one more day - good television, good phone reception and a superb view across to the Wrekin  where light conditions today have allowed us to see individual fields on the distant hills for the first time.  Over the last two days the farm machinery has been busy in the field next to us, harvesting, baling and now carrying the hay away.  The photograph posted today (see Latest pictures) was taken early this morning and shows what a difference a week has made.  PS  We recently had an email from Mike and Jo Edwards saying they were on their way up the Shroppie towards Llangollen and might see us - we first met them in April 2003 when they walked a mile along the towpath from Hillmorton locks bringing us a bottle of wine (their boat Sarah Kate was then at Streethay Wharf being stretched.)  They passed us today and Mike and I had time to exchange a few hasty sentences.
September 6	Another splendid and reasonably quiet weekend at Bridge 50 but this morning we decided it was time to move again, though not too early because our first landfall was expected to be the Anchor.  When we got there, just in time for a lunchtime pint, we found the front door closed and a note in the window to say it would not be open until 7pm.  Reluctantly we swallowed our disappointment and cruised on to Norbury Junction, enjoyed a "take-away" pint of Junction Bitter while we topped up the water tank, and then came on a few more miles below Gnosall to another very rural spot near Little Onn bridge.  There are a few long term permit boats moored above the bridge but our only near neighbours at the moment of writing is a small herd of cows in the field opposite the towpath - and a heron which is fishing about five yards in front of our bow.    The observant will notice there is a new link on our Home Page - titled As Others See It.  I hope to include emails and other observations from regular correspondents that I feel will be of interest to readers of this site. The original piece that set the idea off came from Sarah Levick and described her recent eventful cruise up to the Bridgewater.  It has now been joined by some excellent guidance to coping with the Thames from Dave Biggin who keeps his Dutch cruiser Tanerliq at Caversham.  We've met so many boaters recently who had fancied a trip south but were nervous of travelling and mooring on a major river. Our experiences and Dave's comments should remove all but the most ingrained of doubts !

September 11	After a couple of days back at Brewood to wait for a batch of poste restante mail we left early on Friday morning and cruised to the quiet mooring a few miles before Gailey where we had stayed on our way to the Shroppie.  If we had done the whole of our planned trip up to the Middlewich arm and returned in about four weeks time we had intended to stop off for a night at Wolverhampton Boat Club - by then the piling work should have been finished - but we felt it would be asking a lot for them to find us a mooring this soon and passing the club on Friday morning we could see we had made the right decision.  We'll have to try again next year.  In the meantime we've had a pleasantly busy stay here between bridges 74 and 75.  This morning we were invited by John and Judith Duckett for coffee on their boat Nutwood and they came to us on Snecklifter this afternoon for a brief teach-in on computer graphics etc.  They've lived aboard for six years and have clearly not tired of it yet.  Then in the evening we joined David and Liz Roach for pre-prandial drinks (white wine for me, red for Liz) and wide-ranging chat on their boat Nightwatch which they moor at Gailey.  David is a solicitor in the West Country.  With the mail at Brewood we received a batch of photographs from our friend John Thorpe who came with Linda Pelc and Clive and Joy Thrower - all of whom we knew in Ashford in the Water - to help me celebrate my birthday in August.  John used a fish-eye lens on a very good digital camera and produced some marvellously unusual pictures of the boat and the rest of us - so unusual in fact that I actually liked seeing myself the subject for once instead of hiding behind a camera.  I have posted a special page of these on Latest pictures
September 13	We spent another enjoyable day at our quiet country mooring, with both Nutwood and Nightwatch keeping us company.  David and Liz came to Snecklifter for morning coffee and to have a look around the boat and later Liz brought their three King Charles spaniels for a walk with Bess, Molly and me. Given that there were seven dogs between us (John and Judith had two on board Nutwood) it was a surprisingly quiet and trouble free stay.   In the afternoon "my" Liz spent a couple of hours with Judith talking about two of their biggest interests - glass painting (Liz) and tatting (Judith) while I sorted out videos and books.  This morning all three boats upped and left, Nutwood to tackle the Shroppie and the Middlewich arm before returning down the Trent and Mersey towards their winter mooring at Aylesbury.  We hope to see them again as our paths are certain to rejoin before we reach the Ashby. Nightwatch left 30 minutes before us to cruise back to base at Gailey where we met them again briefly while we watered and took on diesel.  A few hundred yards below Gailey lock we moored for the rest of the day and just as well - the rain is torrential at the moment.
September 17	Arrived here at Tixall yesterday, intending to stay only one night but rain and wind this morning persuaded us that this would be the best place to spend the weekend.  We are in a splendid spot with views across the wide towards the Stafford road and over fields towards Shugborough. Television reception is good - important when the new series of The West Wing starts tonight - but telephone is hit and miss.  Our inside phone for the internet uses our outdoor boaters' phone aerial so it's reasonable, but Liz has to sit in the cratch or stand outside to speak with friends.  We left Gailey in fine weather on Tuesday morning, moored in our usual spot at Penkridge in time for Wednesday's market (plenty of retail therapy here at sensible prices), and managed a 10 minute chat with local resident John Shaw before cruising out into the countryside to moor the other side of Acton Trussell, a perfect spot except for the constant hum of traffic from the nearby motorway.    Yesterday we came down Deptmore lock to find Vavara moored on the towpath opposite Stafford Boat Club so we drank tea and coffee with Mick and Barbara Hill for an hour.  On the other side of the canal, tied up at the club, were Fred and Julie Boreham on Wingletang but though we hadn't seen them for a year or more we had time only for a quick shouted conversation because they were leaving their boat for a short while and heading off to Cornwall.  And then, just as we were pulling away to continue the trip to Tixall we passed Carl Gordon-Loveridge and Liz Barman on Blackstone - they have become a leitmotiv in our travels since our first meeting on Heartbreak Hill - and again there was time only for a few words and a promise that one of these days we will see them somewhere that we can stop and spend a little time together. Old friends on the Cut are like London buses etc etc.  Soon after we arrived at Tixall, Mick and Barbara arrived on Vavara so we'll at least have time to catch up on a lot more of their news before we head off on Monday morning to travel south towards Rugeley.  Several e-mails have reached us in the last few days from some of our regulars, among them an update on the travels of Mike and Di Bridges on Quinquireme - another Heron boat launched five months after Snecklifter - who we first met in August 2002 at Poynton.  I have included it in the new section devoted to our correspondents which I have renamed From Our Friends - I was never happy with the original "As Others See It."

September 21	A little community of PLU boaters has been developing here at Tixall as four days have passed.  Just behind are Pete and Maggie Kinnard on Jayar who we have met a few times on the Ashby (Pete introduced me to Co-op own-brand strong bitter which is one of the most enjoyable canned bitters I've tasted for a long time) and behind them are Mick and Barbara on Vavara.  In front of us are Dave and Wendy Kay on Summer Place from Penkridge who moored close to us a few weeks ago at Brewood.  And yesterday afternoon as I walked the dogs along the wide towards Tixall Lock I spotted Janet and Joseph Cresswell on Barleyfirth, another Heron Boat. They were the couple we spoke to over three years ago when we were thinking of placing our order for Snecklifter and we've seen them briefly in passing a few times since then.  But yesterday was the first chance to talk properly, at least with Joseph who came to our boat for some information on RCR and stayed for a while to amuse us with his vivid account of tackling the tidal Trent.  I'm hoping when he finishes his summer cruise in late October he will put it in writing for inclusion in From Our Friends. We also had a visit from Ruth and David Tomlinson whose own boat will start building in November.  They brought us a splendid Melton Mowbray pork pie and salad plus a delectable home-made summer pudding for lunch.  We sat for hour after hour happily talking boats and canals, except for about half an hour when David and Ruth looked patiently on as Liz and I discussed (argued about) a battery management system for Snecklifter (see below).  Why are we still here when we were planning to leave on Monday morning? Well,the weather has not been encouraging, especially the high winds, but the real reason is we've been having more electrical problems. About a month ago the rev counter in our control panel stopped working (the engine hours indicator had been playing up for some time - flashing on and off for a day and then settling down for a while) and as we were returning to the boat after a walk into Great Haywood I spotted a sign in a boat ahead of us offering the services of a specialist electrician - no job too big or small. He turned out to be Rob Lowman who has been a marine consultant for over 20 years, buying, selling, maintaining and upgrading boats.  He found the problem in five minutes (a broken wire) and swiftly fixed it, but then noticed that our newest 110 amp alternator had been wired (NOT by Heron I must emphasise) to the same output post as the 70 amp which should have been charging only the engine battery. In fact, both were charging all seven batteries, or rather over-charging because their sides are beginning to bow, a sure sign they have been boiling.  Only the fact that the 110 amp had been connected with cable that was too thin to carry the full load had saved greater damage and reduced the fire risk.  He showed me that the wire running to the isolator inside the boat was very, very hot to the touch.  To cut a long story ... he has now rewired enough to make the system safe. We'll probably need new batteries sooner than we should have but hope for another six months or so out of these. And I have asked him to fit a Sterling battery management system, something boating friends and a couple of electrical engineers have been urging us to do for ages.  We've also met a number of others who argue we don't need one but the discussion is now over.  I'll report results soon.  In the meantime this update should end on a positive note. In case I don't write any more this week, Liz and I want to send our best wishes to one of our long-standing email correspondents Rose Philpott who is celebrating a special birthday on Saturday.  I won't say how old she is but it's one with a nought on the end and they are always special.
September 24	It was still windy and raining yesterday morning but it was essential that we leave Tixall and cruise to Anglo Welsh so that one of their engineers Keith could prepare the 110 amp alternator for Rob Lowman to wire up to the battery management system some time next week.  We were able to water, dump rubbish, do some last minute shopping for bread and milk and even squeeze in a 20 minute chat with Jane and Jona of Keep Smilin' (from Barton Turns marina) before coming down to our special mooring below bridge 69, a couple of miles above Rugeley.  When we were last here seven weeks ago we had met Rob and Jeanne Boulton of Tywardreath and as if nothing had changed they were back almost in their original spot.  In fact they had been to Penkridge to get treatment for their very ill dog Duke who yesterday looked transformed - he ran to greet me as soon as he spotted me. (See Well Met on the Cut).  We spent an hour on their boat drinking tea and catching up on our travels before I saw another familiar boat passing - Californian with Americans Mike and Bonnie Goldberg on board.  We first met them at Wolseley Bridge almost exactly a year ago when they said they had heard of us from their friend Lynn Mellors from Preston Brook who has been following the website. They have passed us a couple of time since but we've not had a chance to talk properly.  This time they were able to moor up behind Snecklifter for an hour so we left Rob and Jeanne to enjoy another cup of tea aboard Californian.  They were on their way back to Lymm where they seem to have a full social diary before they return to their home in Long Beach for the winter.  Earlier we had been greeted by two other readers of this diary - Alan and Sheila Beattie from Cornwall who are holidaying on a hire boat.  They had just come under the bridge on to the Staffs and Worcestershire canal as we were pushing off from Anglo Welsh so unfortunately it was impossible to stop and talk with them properly. But as we are likely to be here until at least Monday and then will spend the rest of the week around Fradley there's a good chance they'll catch up with us.
September 28	I was right (see above).  We had only just returned to the boat after our second shopping trip at Rugeley - lots of tins and other basics for the winter while we were very close to a Safeway - when Alan and Sheila Beattie cruised past.  They managed to tie up below the bridge and returned for a cup of a coffee and a chat about boating.  We didn't need to tell them much about ourselves because Alan has been reading this diary since it started but we were able to help them with a few other questions about living aboard which they are thinking about doing in a couple of years time, although they have not yet committed themselves to making the break from home and friends in Cornwall. Most questions are easily answered but the one aspect that is hardest to explain to anyone not living this life is how determined both partners must be - we've come across so many relationships that have broken down, with one partner (not always the woman) leaving the boat to return to bricks and mortar. It's not stressful in itself but there are stresses if one partner is not as keen on this (comparatively) rootless, wandering life.  After a long weekend moored up somewhere like bridge 69 we love it all the more, especially when someone like Marion Jones on Taupe et Loir (French for dormouse and mole) turns up. We first met last year when she, her brother and his wife had made our trip up the 15 Audlem locks a fairly easy task - she was another of those boaters who are so helpful in partly setting the locks behind them.  This time she pulled in behind us for half an hour and we joined her and two friends for a coffee, not long but enough to discover she is selling her 63 ft boat and opting for a 50 to 55 footer that will easier to manage on her own.  Last night we spent at Handsacre after leaving Rugeley mid-afternoon, not our usual practice to set off so late but we were delayed by a necessary visit to the local vet to check out a growth on Bess's elbow that turned out to be treatable with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory tablets.  I stayed with Molly and the boat while Liz walked Bess over to Donnachie and Townley in Market Street and when she returned she was full of praise for both the friendliness and professionalism of the vet.  A lengthy consulation, all that treatment, plus cutting her overlong nails (the dog's that is), and the bill was only £30.   This morning we left early (back to our normal routine) and were tied up at Fradley junction before 10 a.m., in plenty of time to walk the dogs, chat to neighbouring boaters, walk our rubbish around to the sanitary station and then enjoy a pint of Adnam's Broadside in The Swan before lunch.  On our way back to the boat we ran into Alan and Sheila again who were doing some last minute present buying before cruising back towards their starting point at Nottingham.  Tomorrow I plan to clean out the engine space if it doesn't rain.  Other than that, a few days of idling.